Stuck in the rain
by Sexysaxist
Summary: Songfic to I'm with you by Avril Lavigne. Sorta tied to No Happy Ending, but stand alone. Inuyasha and kagome are separated from their friends and are stuck together one miserable rainy night, and Inuyasha get's to take care of Kagome. Short Oneshot


A/N This is another Avril Lavigne songfic, to I'm With You. Again, I love the imagery and confusion and sense of isolation in this song. It isn't too often in the TV show ( I watch the English translation on Cartoon Network) that we see Inuyasha and Kagome alone in bad circumstances. We see Kagome taking care of Inuyasha all the time, but what if the positions were reversed and there was no one scrutinizing his actions? This is what I came up with. Please tell me what you think. I love to hear from my readers.

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Stuck in the Rain

_I'm standing on a bridge  
__I'm waiting in the dark  
__I thought that you'd be here by now  
__There is nothing but the rain  
__No footsteps on the ground  
__I'm listening but there's no sound_

Kagome didn't think she'd ever been so cold in her life. Hell _had_ frozen over and she was stuck in the middle of it. It was sleeting and hailing outside and she was forced to stand out on a bridge at the edge of a little town until Inuyasha was with her. Some fanatic dingbat ran this little village and said that no woman was allowed to enter and stay in the village unescorted. Any woman alone was considered a prostitute, and was captured and sold to the closest brothel. There was no way on God's green earth Inuyasha or Kagome was going to allow that, so here she was standing outside, drenched to the skin and freezing cold, waiting for Inuyasha to come back with food. Damn inhospitable idiots.

On top of that, by some weird twist of Naraku induced fate, Inuyasha and Kagome were separated from Miroku, Sango and Shippo. She had no idea what happened to them and was worried sick.

_Isn't anyone trying to find me  
__Won't somebody come take me home  
__It's a damn cold night  
__Trying to figure out this life  
__Won't you take me by the hand  
__Take me somewhere new  
__I don't know who you are  
__But I'm, I'm with you_

By the time Inuyasha got back to her, Kagome was nothing but a blue, shivering, senseless heap. Guilt tugged at him for taking so long, but he found some berries, apples, a couple of birds to eat and some firewood. He stuffed his goods into Kagome's pack, slung it over his shoulder, then picked up her dead weight and cradled her to his chest, trying to infuse some of his warmth into her frozen body.

Inuyasha carried Kagome to the village leader's home. The grizzled man met him at the door and pointed to a pathetic rickety hut where he'd decided they could stay for the night. He couldn't in good conscience turn them away in this weather but he didn't want a demon, compassionate hanyou or not, anywhere near his town. Inuyasha snorted in derision but followed the man's direction. He didn't have time to make the man change his mind. Kagome needed shelter fast. Beggars couldn't be chooses and she was going to freeze to death.

_I'm looking for a place  
__Searching for a face  
__Is there anybody here I know  
__Cause nothing's going right  
__And everything's a mess  
__And no one likes to be alone_

The hut was a leaky, drafty, dilapidated mess. Inuyasha had done a relatively good job of keeping the fire wood dry, but his efforts would be moot with all the water blowing in. He wrung out his fire rat coat and covered Kagome as best he could before heading back out into the miserable night to find some foliage to patch the holes in the walls and roof. He took his worried frustration out on the town by tearing up fences, fishing screens and decorative shrubs for his patching material. In short order he'd MacGyvered it all together so that only the strongest gust of wind broke through. As soon as the walls were pieced together he scrambled to make a fire, knowing that Kagome's life depended on how quickly he got her warm.

_It's a damn cold night  
__Trying to figure out this life  
__Won't you take me by the hand  
__Take me some where new  
__I don't know who you are  
__But I'm, I'm with you_

Kagome roused herself from her frozen stupor at the smell of wood smoke. She opened her eyes and saw a pathetic little fire with her aluminum pot steaming on top of it. Inuyasha was skinning one of the small birds he'd caught. There was blood all over his hands. He had his sword propped across his lap and he was splitting the carcass on the upturned blade.

"What are you doing?"

The cold must have frozen Kagome's brain stupid. "Trying to fix you something hot to eat"

Inuyasha reached into her backpack with bloody hands and pulled out a package of ramen. He ripped the cellophane open with his teeth and shook out the seasoning packet. He emptied the seasoning into the steaming pot, immediately followed by bird legs and wings. With a graceless rip of flesh the breast meat was added also. He tossed the bloody square of noodles into Kagome's lap.

"Put those in when the meats done"

Kagome looked up at him startled, but Inuyasha merely scooted to the doorway to wash his hands and blade in the heavy downpour.

It wasn't to long before they were huddled over the pot chowing down on a small, bland, but hearty and most importantly, HOT meal. After they nearly licked the pot clean Inuyasha went back to the doorway to rinse it out and refill it. While the water heated again he started cutting up the apples he found. Kagome shrugged out of his heavy coat and draped it over her knees to dry in front of the fire. She also pulled off her skirt, socks and shoes.

Inuyasha did his best to keep his appreciation of her bare, albeit goose bumpy legs discreet. Kagome watched him surreptitiously from under her bangs. He was gruff as usual, but she adored the caring, tender side of him she so rarely got to see.

_Why is everything so confusing  
__Maybe I'm just out of my mind_

He was only ever like this when they were alone or she particularly needed him. Well this certainly fell under both categories. She wished she could just be with him like this more often, only under better circumstances, like knowing her friends were safe and not freezing her ass off. On second thought, she would take freezing cause Inuyasha was definitely going to have to sleep with her.

"You need to go home and get some warmer clothes Kagome"

"I know, I was planning on it as soon as we got home. Who knew we'd get caught in this mess?"

Inuyasha handed her a chunk of apple and Kagome got an idea for a makeshift dessert. She dug into her bad and pulled out a package of powdered milk. She handed the apple back to Inuyasha and told him to cut it into little chunks. She then emptied half of the powdered milk into the now hot water and threw in the berries he'd collected. Inuyasha tossed in the apple bits and they soon had a makeshift fruit custard. They ate about a third of the sweet concoction and set the rest aside to cool and have for breakfast.

_It's a damn cold night  
__Trying to figure out this life  
__Won't you take me by the hand  
__Take me some where new  
__I don't know who you are  
__But I'm, I'm with you_

They sat in companionable silence for a while, watching the fire crackle and sputter when an errant drop of water snuck through a hole in the roof. When a yawn just about split Kagome's head in half, Inuyasha made a grumbling display of accepting the inevitable and opened his arms to her. She rolled her eyes and made a face at him but crawled into his lap none the less. He was warm, smelled like smoke and fruit, and she would take every legitimate, and a few illegitimate excuses to cuddle with him. This side of him, when he was sweet and considerate, was very much a mystery. True he always took care of her, but he was usually so obnoxious about it.

_Take me by the hand  
__Take me some where new  
__I don't know who you are  
__But I'm, I'm with you_

Right or wrong, her fate was tied to him. That fact had never been more obvious than it was now as she lay cradled against his chest, her life depending on his ability and inclination to keep her warm through the night. What kind of choice had she made, to follow a confrontational, egotistical, power hungry demon? She certainly never expected her life to take this particular turn. And yet here she was, happy about her choice, content to follow him where ever his ambitions and need for revenge took him.

_Take me by the hand  
__Take me some where new  
__I don't know who you are  
__But I'm, I'm with you_

The sound of angry voices announced that morning had arrived and it was time to leave. She could hear Inuyasha outside berating the villagers as she rubbed crusty junk out of her eyes and uncurled her very cramped legs. She was eating half of the cold goopy "custard" Inuyasha had saved for her when he came back in and dropped a heavy kimono in her lap.

"Get dressed. This should keep you warm enough till we get home"

Home. Shower. Electric blanket. Fuzzy slippers. Home sounded really nice right about now.

"How did you get this?" Kagome asked as she fingered the heavy course cloth.

"A few choice threats usually do the job" Inuyasha gloated

Kagome didn't ask. She didn't want to know. These things always managed to get her irritated with him and she wanted to keep basking in her all-night-cuddle glow. She slipped on her now dry socks and skirt and shrugged on the kimono. Inuyasha reached out and took back his fire rat over coat as Kagome tied the kimono closed. Her warmth and faintly nutty smell enveloped him in a shadow embrace as he shrugged his arms into the sleeves.

Kagome knelt in front of the burnt out fire to gather up their modern trash and scrape the pot into the ashes. After she stuffed their meager possessions into the pack, Inuyasha reached out to help her up. He retained possession of her hand as they walked through and out of the village. No doubt she was escorted now. When they crossed the small bridge, Inuyasha knelt down so Kagome could climb onto his back.

"Lets' go home" he said as he clutched at her thighs, squeezed tight to his waist.

"Sounds great to me"

_Take me by the hand  
__Take me some where new  
__I don't know who you are  
__But I'm, I'm with you  
__I'm with you  
__I'm with you_

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